Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. Modeling parliamentary debate -- A theory of parliamentary debate -- Empirical implications -- Research design -- Part 2. Empirical studies of parliamentary debate -- Debates and institutions -- Debate participation: Germany and the United Kingdom -- Dissent in parliament and the media: Germany and the United Kingdom -- Candidate selection and debate participation: a European perspective -- Changing institutions: New Zealand.

This book explains how parties and their members of parliament (MPs) structure parliamentary debate. Parties may actively seek to prevent some members from taking the floor while promoting opportunities for others. In doing so, they attempt to control the message that their partisans convey in parliament. The authors provide a theoretical model to explain the design of procedural rules in parliament, how the party leadership interacts with rebel backbenchers, and how MPs represent voters. The book explores political institutions, intra-party politics, electoral politics and legislative behavior. It develops and tests a new theory of parliamentary debate, using data from the UK, Germany, New Zealand and the European Parliament.